'What kind of question is that?' Tyrrell Hatton believes 'bad luck' cost him shot at US Open title
England's Tyrrell Hatton admits "what happened on 17 is going to hurt for a long time" as he comes up short at the US Open.
Tyrrell Hatton believes a bad break with his tee shot down the par-4 17th ultimately cost him a chance to win his first major title at the US Open.
Hatton, 33, surged into contention on a wet and wild final round at Oakmont.
While the leaders were faltering ahead, the LIV Golf star was holding firm and playing well.
Hatton found himself in a tie for the lead as he boarded the short par-4 17th.
He unleashed a drive over the corner and just to the right of the green.
Hatton was fully expecting to see his ball resting in the bunker as he trudged up there.
But he soon saw his ball had remained in the rough and on a tricky downhill lie.
Hatton then proceeded to hit his ball into the bank of the bunker in front of him.
He then only just got his ball out of the rough with his third shot, and he would take two more shots from there for a costly bogey-five.
Hatton fell one shot behind and he knew he knew he needed to birdie the 18th for any chance of winning the US Open.
But unfortunately for Hatton he would hit an errant tee shot and record another bogey.
It all added up to a 2-over 72 and Hatton finished the week in a tie for fourth on 3-over par and eventually four shots behind eventual winner JJ Spaun, who birdied the final two holes to see out a two-shot victory over Scotland's Bob MacIntyre.
The result did at least mark Hatton's best ever finish at a major and his second ever top-10 finish at a US Open.
But top-10s don't interest Hatton much as he is solely out here to win.
When pressed for comment after the final round, Hatton was still struggling to get the 17th hole out of his head.
He might not be able to for a while either.
"Yeah, what happened on 17 is going to hurt a lot for a long time," said a deflated Hatton.
"It was the first time I've been in contention in a major, and that was exciting, and unfortunately, I feel like through a bit of bad luck I had momentum taken away from me and ultimately ended up not being my day."
Then Hatton had a back and forth with a reporter who questioned his "bad luck" claim.
Reporter: "Why was it bad luck, do you think?"
Hatton: "Why was it bad luck?"
Reporter: "Yeah."
Hatton; "Why do you think it was bad luck? What kind of question is that?"
Reporter: "No, I'm just saying what made it bad luck, do you think?"
Hatton: "You think stopping on the downslope in the rough? Like, that's ridiculous. As I said, if you're going to miss that green, you have to miss it right in the bunker. I've hit a decent -- obviously not a decent tee shot, that would have been on the green, but I feel I've missed it in the right spot and got punished, which ultimately I don't think ends up being fair."
Hatton can not only take consolation from his best career result at a major, but he also pushes himself up to second place in the European Ryder Cup standings behind Rory McIlroy ahead of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage in New York this September.
The Englishman was also the joint highest LIV Golf player in the field alongside Carlos Ortiz.
Hatton has six more LIV Golf League events to play in before he turns his attention back to the DP World Tour and the Ryder Cup from 26-28 September.
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
